It's a HardKnock Life
by inufan1369
Summary: Death, betrayal, rape, blood...and a baby... Can the gang stay together, or will they all fall apart? Can someone be the cornerstone that keeps them all together? Will they ever beat Naraku? Please R&R! A lot of OOC.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: The Dream

_It was horrible times before. I didn't fit in anywhere. No one would accept me, I was shunned, beaten, and betrayed. I was so weak...and I wouldn't admit this fault to myself. And I ended up getting hurt again because I thought I could take on anything, I was the master, I was strong enough to make it on my own... Then I met her... She turned my whole world upside down, and made me see just how alone I really was, how hopeless I was. And she didn't run away, she didn't call me horrible names like "half-breed"... She called me by my name. Even before she knew who I was she called me by my name, and didn't bother to waste her time insulting me. She wanted to know as much about me as possible. She was the first one that I could really call a...friend. She showed me what it was like to feel friendship, and how easy it is to get and keep. She's amazing. She changed my whole life. She is perfect... well, a little rough around the edges, but I can look past that. All I want is for her to feel the same way about me, as I feel about her..._

It was a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, the sun lightening up the dreary, old hut that the gang was camping in. Kagome was the first to wake. She sat up, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, stretched, and looked around at the others. Sango was lying on the floor beside her with Kirara curled against her chest. Miroku was in the far right corner of the hut, his head leaning against the wall, gently snoring. Shippo was curled up on Kagome's pillow. Inuyasha was behind her, sitting up against the wall, near the door. His chin was resting on his chest, and his ears were twitching.

_He must be having a dream. _Kagome thought. _I wonder what he is dreaming about._

She stood up and stretched again and tip-toed outside. She managed to slip silenty out of the hut. When she was safely outside she let out a breath she seemed to be holding. She started walking, and didn't take two steps before tripping over a loose rock. She let out a little squeal and fell face first on the ground.

_That was real nice, Kagome. _The little voice in her head told her amusingly.

_Oh, shut up. _She thought back angrily.

She stood back up and dusted off her front. She let out another breath and continued to walk on.

_Everywhere I go I keep seeing her. Her face, lighting up everything around me, no matter how dark it may be. Her eyes sparkle, her smile is so sincere, it lightens my soul just seeing it, seeing it makes me realize, no, know that everything will be alright. And then suddenly she would vanish into thin air, and I would be surrounded by darkness, searching desperatly for her, running with nothing to lead me, until I would see a soft light ahead. It was't her, I just knew it wasn't, but it at least gave me something to follow so I would know where I was. And there was another woman..._

Kagome continued to walk on slowly, soaking in the warm rays of the sun. She loved the fuedal era early in the morning. It was so calm. She stopped to stretch and breathe in the fresh air. Everything seemed so clean, pure, and innocent. But she knew better than to believe that this place was peaceful. It seemed like there was a demon attack every day. She didn't know whether her nerves would hold out to continue to fight demons. She needed another break, she needed to go home for a few days, to relax herself, so she would be well prepared for more demon encounters.

_This woman has her back to me. I can feel an evil aura around her. I knew she wasn't safe. I had to get away..._

Kagome turned around and walked back to the hut. She had done decided... She was going to ask Inuyasha for a break, she was going to ask him if she could go home for a few days to unwind. She knew he would most likely resist, so she was willing to go to drastic measures to get him to let her go, like the infamous "sit" command. She hoped he would understand that she needed some time off...though she knew he wouldn't. But, she was willing to risk it. She didn't ask for much. The least he could do was let her go home.

_"Kagome!!" I yelled out. My voice seemed empty. I tried to run but I seemed to be getting nowhere fast. I could feel that woman's aura overpowering my own. I knew I shouldn't panic, but I had to find Kagome and get her heartlightening smile out of there, take her to safety. I felt the woman's hands grab my shoulders and pull me back and turned me around to face her..._

Kagome entered the hut and automatically looked around for Inuyasha. She remembered he was by the door. She turned to look to see if he was still asleep and saw he was lying on the ground thrashing in his sleep. He was muttered in a panicky voice and he ears were twitching out of control.

"Inuyasha!" she said loudly. "Inuyasha, wake up!"

_I was face to face with the woman. She seemed so familiar, but I was in no position to reminise. I felt the woman pull me closer to her and sink her teeth into my neck. I could hear a faint sound in my ear, barely a whisper getting louder and louder. I screamed..._

"Inuyasha, Inuyasha, it's alright, it's alright, you were only dreaming." Kagome said forcing his upright self to lay back down.

He was to shaky and weak to resist, and he was covered in sweat. He felt a cool rag on his forehead, and a soothing voice.

"You were having a bad dream." Kagome said soothingly to him, rubbing the wet cloth across his head.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara were all crowded around him to see if he was going crazy. Kagome got frustrated and shooed them all off. They left and went to the morning chores, Shippo and Sango to get the water and Miroku to get the firewood, so they could fix breakfast.

"Wha-what happened, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked in a low voice. His throat hurt from when he screamed.

"You were thrashing and screaming in your sleep. You were having a bad dream." she answered, placing the cool cloth back on his head.

Inuyasha tried to remember what his dream was about, but it slipped away from him like water in cupped hands. He couldn't remember a thing.

"Do you remember anything about the dream?" Kagome asked.

He shook his head in response. "Not a thing."

"You had me worried."

"Feh."

"Seriously."

Inuyasha remained silent, trying hard to remember even the slightest bit about his dream. His head felt hollow. The only thing he remembered the woman. It was like he knew her, but he couldn't place a face on her. I growled to himself. Kagome stopped running the cloth across his head when she heard that noise erupt from his throat.

"Sorry." she said to him, putting the cloth back into the bucket of water that was sitting beside her.

Inuyasha turned his head and sat up, despite Kagome's urges for him to lie back down. He stood to his feet and walked outside. He needed some alone time, so he could try and figure out what his dream was about. He hopped into a tree and stared into the sky, very quickly dozing back off into sleep.

_I saw that woman again. She was smiling at me so sinisterly that it sent chills down my body. She seemed so familiar, I wanted to rip my hair out trying to remember who she was. _

_"You do remember me, don't you, Inuyasha?" the woman spoke to me. _

_The voice seemed to ring a bell, but I still couldn't place a face on her. She laughed at my blank expression. _

_"Come on...I know you remember me."_

_"Who are you and what do you want?"_

_"You're looking for Kagome aren't you?"_

_"What? What do you know about Kagome? Where is she?!"_

_"I can't tell you that, Inuyasha, but I do urge you wake up."_

_"What?"_

_"Wake up, Inuyasha, before she disappears."_

_That face..._

"Kikyo!" Inuyasha cried, jolting awake in his sleep. "The woman... She was Kikyo..."

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!"

He looked down from the tree he was in to see Shippo running towards him, a panicked look on his face, his blue-green eyes shining in terror.

"What is it, Shippo?" Inuyasha asked, sensing trouble in the child's stare.

"Kagome's gone!"

"What?!"

"She just disappeared!"

Inuyasha jumped down from the tree and ran towards the hut, and much to his fear, she was gone, nowhere in sight.

"My dream..." Inuyasha said to himself, looking around and sniffing the air for any sign of Kagome. "Kikyo said that I had better wake up before she disappeared... Was it a warning? Sure didn't sound like she was warning me, more like threatening me..."

"Inuyasha, come on, we have to find Kagome!" Sango called down from the air, she and Miroku already seated onto the transformed Kirara's back.

Inuyasha nodded, allowing Shippo to hop onto his shoulder and following behind Kirara.

"Kagome..."

**(A/N): Okay, this is my first Inuyasha fic. I need reviews. You all have to tell me how I am doing. Please! Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N): I must admit that my prologue wasn't really much...but it sets the tone for the story, I guess. Well, I wasn't really that skilled when it came to fanfictions when I had wrote the prologue, so that's why there wasn't a beginning author's note. I soon discovered the joy of leaving little inserts at the beginning, LOL! Anyway, things are going to start getting rocky here. I hope you all are ready. Enjoy!!**

**Chapter One: The Search Was On**

Countless days and nights were spent searching for the missing priestess. The friends' nerves were beginning to fray from the stress and lack of sleep; Inuyasha refused to even eat until they had found Kagome. Sango, Shippo, Miroku, and even Kirara were starting to notice that Inuyasha was beginning to lose hope. As each day passed and Kagome wasn't found he seemed to fall more and more into himself, only urging his friends to keep up their search...that she had to be somewhere, when really he was trying to convince himself so.

What worried Inuyasha the most was the fact that he couldn't even pick up Kagome's scent. He knew her smell all too well, could pick it up in a millisecond, but her scent seemed to have been wiped off the face of the earth. It didn't make any sense. It was driving him crazy. After three weeks of rigorous searching, and no Kagome in sight, the friends' started fearing the worst.

"She..she can't be.._dead_..can she?" Shippo said tearfully, stressing the word 'dead' carefully, saying it in a whisper.

"I don't know... We haven't seen her for such a long time.." Sango said, biting the nails on her right hand.

Miroku remained silent, but stared into the sky with a furrowed brow. Inuyasha's nerves had finally split; he felt like all his anger, worry, and agitation were washing over him in one sweep. He threw his hands up in the air and let out a howl of rage and pain. He hit his knees and pounded his fist into the ground, muttering incoherant phrases under his breath, tense from head to toe. Where was Kagome, what happened to her?

He lifted his head to look at the horizon. There was nothing; nothing but jagged mountains, forests, cozy little villages...everywhere that he knew Kagome was not. He so desperatly wanted to call out to her, hoping the wind would carry his voice to her, but he knew it would bring him no such luck. Maybe Sango, Miroku, and Shippo's theory was right, maybe Kagome really was..._dead_.

He shook his head vigorously to remove such thoughts from his brain. Something inside of him told him that Kagome was still alive out there, and she was fighting to find her way back. He would just have to keep searching, whether to the end of the earth, or to the end of the stars. He was going to find her, he had his mind made up.

He picked himself up off the ground and stared out into nothing for a long time. He still had his doubts, he had many doubts. His main fear was he getting his hopes up and have them crumble down before him. What if he found Kagome, but she wasn't alive? What if he found her and the same thing happened like it did with Kikyo, and he find himself stuck to a tree once more? Kikyo...

His thoughts drifted to the dream that he remembered vividly that he had three weeks before. Kikyo had told him to wake up before Kagome disappears. He didn't understand...wake up? He had woken up and she was right there. But, he remembered he fell back into sleep, Kikyo kept repeating wake up, wake up. What did it mean? Wake up from what?

He drove his hand roughly through his hair, growling lightly. It made no sense. Why would Kikyo send him a warning anyway? He thought Kikyo could care less what happened to Kagome. He again shook his head to clear it of thoughts. He didn't have time to worry about how his heart was torn in two between two women. Right now, all he had to worry about was finding Kagome..and what 'Wake up' meant.

"Inuyasha?"

He turned when he heard Shippo's voice. He didn't look at him with hate, malice, or anything in that matter; he looked at the fox-demon cub with a quiet passion, something that Shippo could see through as his heart.

"What are we going to do now?"

"We're going to keep searching." Inuyasha said lightly. "She's out there... I just know it."

"Then we had better get going while we still have some daylight." Sango said, motioning for Kirara to transform, and hopped on her back, Miroku behind her.

Inuyasha nodded, allowed Shippo to jump on his shoulder, and they took off into the direction of the sun, letting their instinct and empty minds lead them to what they were looking for.

"Miroku, you have been almost as silent as Inuyasha. Are you okay?" Sango asked the monk, who was still staring into space.

"Yes, I just keep thinking about the dream Inuyasha had. I do believe he's wondering about the same thing as I am." Miroku said, looking at Inuyasha's back in pity. "Why would Kikyo send him a warning about Kagome?"

Sango shook her head. "I don't know, your guess is as good as mine."

Inuyasha pretended not to listen. He was trying not to let his mind wander of things he didn't want to hear. He just continued running, and running hard, hoping to drain himself of every last ounce of energy he had. Maybe then, he could relax, unwind, and ideas would come. He did his best thinking when he wasn't under stress.

Then...he caught it: Kagome's scent. It was vague, but he knew it was hers. It was coming in the direction left of them. He turned so quickly towards the scent that Shippo was thrown off his shoulder. Sango caught him and pulling him to her bosom.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Miroku called after, Inuyasha running so fast he was almost out of sight.

"Kagome!!" Inuyasha called, Miroku not knowing whether to him or to Kagome, and he urged Kirara to go faster after Inuyasha.

Inuyasha ran blindly, following his nose, for what seemed like hours, drawing closer and closer to Kagome's scent. He looked back and saw that he had lost the others. He would have to worry about them at another time, because Kagome's scent was so strong now that he could almost taste it.

He slowed down when he approached a hot spring located at the base of a mountain. Kagome's aroma was resonating out of the water. He walked up to it and looked down into the clear, steaming water and saw nothing but his reflection. Maybe the stress and little to no sleep was beginning to play with his senses.

He looked around him, knowing that it was no good. Kagome wasn't there. There was nothing around the mountain except for mountain and the path that he had taken to get to the place. Kagome couldn't be anywhere there, or he would have noticed.

He jumped slightly when he felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned to see Kikyo staring blankly down at him. He turned to stare her full in the face, uncomfortable with the empty look she was giving him. He opened his mouth to say something to her, but she placed her index finger to his lips. She did nothing but stare. Inuyasha's heart began to race as he continued to look into her face. Everything was becoming blurry...

He felt her cold lips against his. He didn't resist, but stood stock-still in shock for a moment, trying to gather in all that was happening. Kikyo was kissing him?

He did the only thing he knew how...he panicked. He pushed Kikyo back lightly, his hands gripping her elbows. As his vision came back into focus, he looked her straight into her dead, blank eye.

"Kikyo, where is Kagome?"

She replied with a slight smile and pointed with her eyes into the water. Inuyasha followed her gaze, but once again didn't see anything. He looked back at Kikyo in frustration and confusion.

"I don't see anything, Kikyo..."

"Because, you won't wake up... You won't open your eyes to the reality of this situation, Inuyasha. You are ignorant to it." Kikyo replied, her voice as dead and blank as her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked aggressively, letting go of Kikyo's elbows and crossing his arms.

"You are blind to reality. You see only what you want to see. That's your very downfall, Inuyasha. You won't accept reality... Wake up, Inuyasha, and you will see exactly where Kagome is and what situation she is in."

Wake up to reality? Was the reality that Kagome was dead?

He walked to the water's surface, squatted down and once again gazed into it. He saw nothing but his own reflection.

Wake up to reality... Kagome was dead... Was that the reality?

He saw a distorted image in the water. He couldn't make out who or what it was, but it appeared to be struggling.

Struggling... Maybe, Kagome wasn't dead. Maybe, she was dying.

The image started to become clearer. His eyes grew larger as he realized what he was seeing.

Kagome _was_ struggling, because something was holding her underwater. He threw a look back at Kikyo and saw her staring at the water nonchalantly.

"Once someone is forced under the water they have a limited life span of around three weeks, or so, depending on the persons abilities or powers or breed. The demon that is holding her under feeds off of spiritual and demonic power, seeking those who have the most of it." She looked at Inuyasha. "I tried to save her, but the dead are not allowed to touch the water. It turns them to dust. The spiritual and demonic energy that is swirling around in that water is a combination that not only will kill, but will destroy a body while it kills. It eats away at flesh until there is nothing left but bone. Seeing as I am nothing but clay and graveyard soil, I would be completely destroyed."

Inuyasha gazed helplessly into the water at the struggling Kagome.

"So, you're saying that if I even dared try to jump in and save her my flesh would be eaten away?" Inuyasha asked angrily, desperatly.

"Not immediatly. There is a chance that you could get her out and you be unharmed. I'm not so sure how long the girl will last, though. She's been under that water for so long... It's a surprise that she is not bone, yet." 

"So, I can still save her, get her out of there before there is any real harm done?"

"Hardly anyone can get past that demon." Kikyo said, her eyes suddenly blaring. "Why risk it, you'll just die in the process."

"And let Kagome rot down there? I don't think so!" Inuyasha stood to his feet and faced Kikyo full front.

Kikyo's eyes continued to glare into Inuyasha with a deep passion that he couldn't tell was hatred or jubilation. Did Kikyo really think Inuyasha was just going to walk away and let Kagome dissolve into something that demon will devour? Did Kikyo really hate Kagome that much? Inuyasha turned back to the water and once more gazed down at the struggling Kagome. With a stiff sigh he jumped feet first into the water.

The first sensation he felt was like he was jumping into an ice bath. His body froze as it hit the water's surface and below, everything went dark for a moment. When his eyesight adjusted he looked desperatly around for Kagome, ignoring the prickly feeling he had all over his body, like little needles puncturing his skin. He saw her several feet below, her struggles weak and meager.

'She's losing power...' Inuyasha thought, wracking his brains for some kind of way to get her out. 'I have to do something!'

He swam as quickly as he could to Kagome. Each stroke in the water felt like he was swimming through boulders. He reached Kagome and tried to grab her arm, but a long tentacle came and wrapped itself around Inuyasha's waist, throwing him backwards. It took much of Inuyasha's effort not to swallow water. He regained his composure and got a good look at the demon. It was octopus-like, tentacles thrashing about and enveloping Kagome. Inuyasha could see the life draining out of her.

'No!' Inuyasha thought desperately, 'No!'

Inuyasha swam to the demon and thrashed out at it. He couldn't use his Wind Scar or risk killing Kagome. All he had was his claws. He desperately tried to slice through the demon, but it's skin seems hard as steel. Inuyasha could feel himself weakening. He knew he had to get Kagome out of there before he lost all of his power, or it would be the end for both of them.

He wouldn't let that happen. He wasn't going to die at the hands of some ugly octopus and he wasn't going to let Kagome meet that fatal end, either. He unsheathed his Tetsusaiga and aimed it at the demon. The demon's eyes focused on Inuyasha's sword and thrust it's free tentacles at it.

'No, you don't!' Inuyasha screamed in his head and chopped off the first, second, and then third tentacle.

The water vibrated at the demon's screams, the water darkening with it's blood. While the demon was preoccupied with it's pain, Inuyasha swam over it's head and thrust the sword right in between it's eyes. The demon's screamed faded within a bright light then disappeared. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome as she was sinking, the whirpools of light entering her body.

'She's getting her power back,' he thought as he kicked through the water to the surface.

He hadn't realized just how long he had gone without air until he hit the surface, gasping. He lifted Kagome onto the shore and then pulled himself up. Kagome spluttered and coughed and slowly opened her eyes. Inuyasha crawled to her and lifted her torso into his arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently.

"Yeah... What happened?"

"A demon attacked you. Some nasty octopus that stole demonic and spiritual power. If I was any later...you'd be..."

"Thank you. For saving me." Kagome said softly, with a weak smile.

Inuyasha hugged her close. "You were missing for weeks. I was beginning to think I would never find you..."

"I'm here now. Everything's alright..." Kagome replied before falling asleep.

Inuyasha picked her up bridal style and carried her through the path he took until he reached Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara.

"Everything's alright..." he repeated to himself softly, looking into Kagome's soft face as the gang made their way to find somewhere to camp.

**A/N: I know this ending sucked, but you have to believe me, it took almost forever to get back into this!! Please don't hate me! Please R&R!!**


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